Chapter I: Voyage from England to Rio de Janeiro (15)

Around the diamond district there are various military detachments, to prevent the plunder of those stones, or of gold; and also to exact the duties paid upon entrance. Amongst those stations may be enumerated, first, Milho Verde; and, next in rotation, Pirahuna, Gouvea, Rio Pardo, Chapada, Arraial, Hinhahy, Rio Manço. The diamond demarcation, afar off exhibits a black perspective, swelling into a thousand rugged and uneven serras; on one hand are elevated mountains of one single stone, cut by nature into precipices that raise their heads to the clouds; on the other, are extended serras, composed of detached rocks and stones, accumulated on each other in chaotic piles, covered with a grey moss, and sparingly dressed in creeping brushwood. A thousand pure and crystalline rills warble across its rude tracts formed by the miner, and roll into his _gamella_[25] their rich offerings. The waters of some are dashed over the sides of mountains, others descend divided between broken rocks to the base of the serras, from whence, accumulating, they flow in serpentine courses in search of larger rivers, running sometimes tamely and tranquilly between spacious banks; at others, precipitated amongst approximating and steep serras, with loud and interesting murmurs. For a time they often disappear altogether from the sight, are again visible, flowing on in foaming fury. The crystallizations of diamonds are obtained near the surface of the earth. Their form is triangular, round, pointed on one side, with the face always smooth; this proves that the crystallization is dispersed and solitary.

In the centre of the diamond district, one hundred and thirty miles north-north-east of Marianna, one hundred and ten from Sabara, one hundred south-west of Bom Successo, and twenty-eight north-north-west of Villa do Principe, in a broken part of Serro Frio, to the west, and not far from the river Jequitinhonha, is the flourishing arraial of St. Antonio do Tijuco, situated upon an amphitheatre, with a church of St. Antonio, which has the brotherhoods of S.S., of Pasos, and of the Lady of Terco, a chapel of the Lord of Bom Fim, with a fraternity of black creoles; four of the Lady of Amparo, with a brotherhood of mulattoes; of Carmo, with a Terceira order; of Rozario, with a fraternity of African blacks; and Mercez; another of St. Francisco, handsome, and with a Terceira order; a recolhimento of Donzellas, or Virgins, with their little chapel, dedicated to the Lady of Luz; and a house of misericordia, whose chapel is called St. Isabel. It has quarters for troops, abounds with excellent water, and is rendered particularly wholesome by salubrious mountain breezes. The buildings are generally of taipa, few being of stone.

Here reside the tribunal, or diamond junta, composed of five deputies, namely, a _disembargador intendente_, (the intendant judge, or governor,) who is the president, with an exclusive jurisdiction in the diamond demarcation, and a salary of eight thousand crusades per annum, besides other very considerable emoluments; _um corregedor fiscal_, (a civil magistrate,) with 5000 crusades; _um primeiro caixa_, (a first book or chest keeper,) with 8000; _um segundo caixa_, (a second book or chest keeper,) with 6000; _um inspector geral_, (an inspector general,) with 4000.

There is an _escrivao_, or accountant of diamonds; and a _merinho_, or officer, for apprehending persons. The governor has an _escrivao_, who attends the civil and criminal proceedings. There are upwards of six thousand negroes to work for diamonds, and two hundred inspectors, who are whites and subordinate to the junta. In some years there have been found from four to five thousand oitavas (five hundred to six hundred ounces) of diamonds, and amongst them, some stones from one-eighth to five-eighths of an ounce. No one is allowed to enter this district without an express licence.

CHAP. XIII.

PROVINCE OF ESPIRITO SANTO.

_Extent--Boundaries--Misfortunes of its Donatories--Spirited
Resistance of the Indians--Partial Cultivation--Principally
possessed by Indians--Mountains--Mineralogy--Zoology--Descents
of Indians to the Coast--Phytology--Rivers and Ports--Povoações
--Island of Ascension._

This province comprehends three-fourths of the capitania of the same name, given in the year 1534 to Vasco Fernandez Coutinho, as a remuneration for the services he had rendered in Asia to the Portuguese crown. It extends one hundred and thirty miles from south to north, between the river Cabapuana and the river Doce, its northern limit; the width from east to west hitherto remains, in great part, undetermined, in consequence of a considerable portion of this territory yet remaining in the power of the aboriginal natives. It is bounded on the north by the province of Porto Seguro, on the west by that of Minas Geraes, on the south by that of Rio de Janeiro, and on the east by the Atlantic Ocean.

Authentic documents, as to the precise epoch of its colonization, are not discovered; the foundation of the town of Espirito Santo, and from which the capitania derived its name, may however be regarded as its commencement. This town (now called Villa Velha, or Old Town,) was the capital until Victoria acquired the pre-eminence.

It is asserted, by the author of the Geographical Description of Portuguese America, that Coutinho only took sixty persons with him to form the first establishment in his capitania, in which number were included two _degradados_, or degraded fidalgos, Don Gorge de Menezes and Don Simao de Castello Branco. With this small number he engaged and put the Indians to flight; founded the primitive capital; constructed a fort; and established an engenho.

Animated with a desire of affording his colony the means of a rapid improvement, he returned to Portugal, to procure what appeared to him requisite for the accomplishment of this praiseworthy object, leaving in his stead Gorge de Menezes, who was killed in combat with the natives. Castello Branco succeeded him in the government, and the Goytacaze tribe, having formed a confederacy with the Tupininquins, they attacked the colony under his temporary jurisdiction with so much fury and effect as to destroy every edifice and to counteract all the efforts of the Portuguese to retain the footing they had made, so that the remains of the colony, finding that the Indians gave no quarter to any individual, were compelled to seek refuge upon the margins of the river Cricare.

Coutinho returned from Portugal soon after this event, with all the assistance he could collect, and finding his capitania deserted, he solicited succours from Mendo de Sa, the governor-general at Bahia, which were promptly despatched under the command of his excellency’s son, Fernando de Sa, who uniting his force to the fugitives, near the Cricare, an assault was made upon the Indians with considerable advantage, but a body of the enemy fell upon them in turn, and did not allow time for the whole to save themselves by flight to the ships; Fernando de Sa, the commander was amongst the number that perished.

Ultimately, sixty-eight Europeans, the remains of so many people who had in the course of thirty years repaired to this capitania to establish themselves, attacked the Indians with desperate bravery, and gained a complete victory. This fortunate circumstance, aided by the religious instruction with which the Jesuits enlightened and made friends of a considerable portion of those savages, who served to reinforce the small number of whites, enabled the donatory to restore the capitania to the state in which he had left it.

The padre, Affonso Braz, who founded the college of the town of Victoria, in 1551, was the first missionary who arrived in this province.

The Indians did not supply the want of Europeans, who were prevented from coming here by hearing of the calamities of their countrymen.

Reverses of fortune reduced Coutinho to a state which precluded all possibility of deriving any advantage from the capitania; and one of his descendants, being equally unfortunate, sold it, for forty thousand crusades, to Francisco Gil d’Araujo, who established himself in it, animated with various projects, but which he soon abandoned in despair. One of his heirs, after using every endeavour, relinquished it under similar circumstances, and sold it to the crown in the reign of John V. for the sum which it cost. This province cannot be said to have experienced any considerable amelioration since the period of its reversion to the crown, nor does the dominion of the Indians reach to a much less extensive tract of territory, which may be attributed to the present scanty population, and the want of energy on the part of the government; it may however be observed, that the reduction of the Indians is rendered more difficult by the numerous serras and extensive woods which cover this district, demonstrating at the same time the fertility of the soil and its susceptibility of numerous branches of agriculture. The river Doce, which bounds it on the north, would render it still more valuable from the communication which might be opened by water from the mining districts to the ocean; and there is little doubt but that part of this district, in the power of the Indians, through which it runs is auriferous; at least it is fair to draw such an inference from the pieces of gold which are in the possession of the Indians who come in contact with the Portuguese parties of soldiers stationed upon its banks. An ouvidor assured me that the captain-mors, who commanded advanced stations upon this river, had seen pieces of gold in the possession of the Indians which they did not appear to value, but willingly exchanged them, at favourable opportunities, for knives or other iron instruments.

The salubrity of the climate, the existing state of this province, and the advantages which it presents, loudly call upon the present king and government to adopt measures for clearing the margins of the river Doce of the tribes of Indians that infest it, and to render this river navigable from the ocean to the province of Minas Geraes. The only natural difficulties of the river which present any impediment to its free navigation are the Escadinha falls, met with in its course between the latter province and that of Porto Seguro; they are three in number, are highly interesting, and do not extend more than three miles, being nearly together, so that the construction of a railway, or any other and less excellent expedient which the government might be induced to adopt, for the space only of three miles, would connect a conveyance by water to the coast of the produce of the interior districts, which at present is sent on the backs of mules, two and three months being consumed on the journey, and the same period with the return cargoes.

MOUNTAINS.--The most remarkable mountains in the vicinity of the sea are, the serra Guarapary, upon the river of the same name; that of Pero-cao, further to the north; Monte Moreno, near the entrance of the bay of Espirito Santo, and Mestre-Alvaro, which is a mountain almost circular, enjoying extensive views, and is the highest upon the coast. It is about three miles from the beach, in parts bare and rocky, in others covered with wood, having some fertile portions, the cultivators of which are generally within the parish of Nossa Senhora da Conceiçao of the serra. The best balsamic trees of the province are produced here; it is situated between the rivers Carahype, and Reis Magos, and formerly had a volcano. Five miles to the south of the river Piuma is Mount Agha, from whence issue excellent waters. It is a land-mark to navigators.

MINERALOGY.--It produces gold, magnet, crystals, amethysts, and potters and other earths; the mountains in great part consist of granite.

ZOOLOGY.--The _Puri_ tribes of Indians possess the western and central parts of the province, and yet make descents upon the sea-coast, generally doing considerable injury to the Christians who reside contiguous to the shore. They are rather meagre in person, but are courageous and perfidious. Some hordes are already domiciliated in aldeias, and live in peace with the conquerors, in the vicinity of the river Parahiba; but the greater portion wander about, not deviating from the habits of their ancestors. It is said their numbers have diminished, in consequence of the fatal rencounters they have had with the _Aimbore_ tribe. They do not exercise any branch of agriculture; and as the soil, though fertile, cannot gratuitously supply a sufficient maintenance, there is a perpetual attack on all kinds of game. They are formidable enemies of the _Corados_; they use the bow and barbed arrow, and hold in high esteem all instruments of iron, and above all the axe. The skins of animals are not used for the covering of their naked bodies, nor for any other purpose. Amongst other wild quadrupeds, the deer, boar, monkey, ounce, and anta, are well known, against which a continual warfare is carried on, in which the gun is used as well as the bow. A kind of monkey (Sahium) is frequently met with, of an ash colour, with the face white. The _colhereira_, _mutun_, _jacutinga_ parrot, _arrara_, _inhuma_, _tucano_, _macuco_ partridge, and other birds of beautiful plumage, are generally seen, on proceeding beyond the cultivated grounds, which consist only of certain portions running parallel with, and not extending far from the coast; domestic animals are consequently not very numerous.

PHYTOLOGY.--In the woods which cover a considerable portion of the country there is a great diversity of trees of excellent timber for building and other purposes; the Brazil wood, the sassafras, and the cedar, are well known; besides other resinous trees are those which afford gum-mastick, gum-copal, and the cajue-nut tree; those which produce the cupahiba oil are common. No other province possesses such an abundance of the tree that supplies the Peruvian balsam. The sipo clove is met with, the leaves of which exhale an aromatic, similar to the East Indian clove. The _piquia_ produces a fruit of the size of an orange, full of a fine flavoured juice, with a great number of seeds. The _goyty_ is a fruit of the size of a lemon, oblong, with little pulp, yellow, of a fine flavour, and filled with fibres attached to a large stone; there are two sorts similar in taste, and denominated _mirim_. The _pitoma_ is larger than the _mangaba_, oblong, with a smooth rind, savory pulp, and a stone. Amongst the species of fruit trees which the Portuguese have here naturalized, the most useful are the orange and cocoa-nut; amongst other native trees are the _jabuticaba_, the _ubaya_, whose fruit is similar to the first, of excellent quality, and also grows upon the trunk, and even upon the roots that appear. The _arassanhuna_ is also a fruit very much like the _jabuticaba_, but not of so much flavour, and grows at the point of the branches. The fig-tree fructifies in perfection.

The soil is particularly well adapted to the cane, of which there are many engenhos. Legumes, coffee, cocoa, bananas, water-melons, and mandioca, which latter is not grown in sufficient quantity for the consumption of the population, the inhabitants preferring the culture of the cotton tree, of which they make large plantations. Its produce constitutes their principal branch of commerce and wealth; they export a considerable quantity, partly in the wool, and partly in coarse cloth. A sort of narrow sail-cloth is likewise manufactured with it, called _tracado_, to which a preference is given to that of flax, for forming the sails of some of the coasting vessels. The production of rice and Indian corn is considerable.

RIVERS AND PORTS.--The river Camapuan, commonly Cabapuanna, and which the Indians call Reritigba, originates in the serra of Pico, not far distant from the source of the Muryahe, runs between mountains augmented by various others which join it, and enters the ocean fifteen miles to the north of the Parahiba. It is navigable for large canoes for a considerable space, to a certain situation, where its current begins to be more violent and its bed less disembarrassed.

Ten miles to the north of the Camapuan, the Itapemirim empties itself, after a considerable course, and is already large on crossing the cordillera. It is said that one of its branches originates in the mines of Castello, which were abandoned in consequence of the invasions of the Puris and Aimbores. Sumacas advance some miles up it, and canoes much further.

The Piuma, which rises in an auriferous country to the west of the cordillera, discharges itself fourteen miles to the north of the Itapemirim, and affords navigation to canoes for a considerable space.

Twenty miles to the north of the Piuma is the Benevente, which is only considerable as far as the tide advances; it is supposed to descend from the cordillera.

The Guarapary, which discharges itself ten miles to the north of Benevente, is narrow and deep in the proximity of the sea, where it traverses the cordillera, beyond which it is unknown, as well as the country through which it flows.

The river Jecu enters the ocean ten miles to the north of the Guarapary, and three to the south of the entrance to the bay of Espirito Santo. The Jesuits who possessed the adjacent lands, formed a navigable communication from this river to the bay, by an extensive valley, in order to avoid the dangers of the ocean, passing round mount Moreno to enter the port. It yet remains, presenting the same advantage to the present agriculturists of the country.

The bay of Espirito Santo is spacious, with secure anchorage. Amongst the various streams which lose themselves in it, the Santa Maria is the only considerable one. It is navigable for the space of forty miles to the first fall. The tide runs up this river about twelve miles to the mouth of the river Serra, which unites it on the left bank; by the same side it receives another, which affords navigation to the centre of the district, which indicates much fecundity. By the southern margin it is joined by the small river Crubixa, where the stones met with in its bed afford a sort of coral, with which the Indians ornament themselves. In the vicinity of this river is cultivated mandioca, rice, bananas, and canes, the sugar of which is deemed the best in the province. Seven miles from the northern bar of Espirito Santo is the small river Carahype, which becomes a current only when the rains produce an overflowing of the lake Jucunen, which is well stored with fish, about three miles in length, and near the sea. A little to the north of the mount of Mestre Alvaro, the Reys Majos, originally Apyaputang, is discharged, having a small port at its embouchure.

The Mandu comes from the interior of the country, running north-north-east between woods, enters the river Doce two miles below the Escadinha Falls, and is navigable for canoes.

The towns of this province are--

Villa da Victoria
Villa Velha
Benevente
Almeyda
Guarapary
Itapemirim.

The villa or town of Nossa Senhora of Victoria, the capital of the province, is situated on an amphitheatrical site on the western side of an island, fifteen miles in circumference, in the bay of Espirito Santo, which is capable of receiving frigates, and its entrance is defended by five small forts. The town is well provided with water, has tolerable houses, paved streets, and a church, which when complete will be handsome. There is a house of misericordia, convents of Franciscans and slippered Carmelites, two Terceira orders belonging to those corporations, a chapel of St. Luzia, three of Nossa Senhora of Boa Morte, Conceiçao, and Rozario. The ex-Jesuitical college is a fine edifice, and now serves for the palace of the governors. The ouvidor of the comarca has his ordinary residence here. It has also a royal professor of Latin, and a junta da real fazenda, or the treasury. The island is elevated, and the greatest part in a state of cultivation. Its eastern side lies in a direct line with the coast of the continent.

At the entrance of the bar, near the before-mentioned Moreno Mount, is another, also a land-mark to sailors, and is in the form of a sugar-loaf. On its summit is a convent of Franciscans, dedicated to Nossa Senhora da Penha, of which it takes the name, not unfrequently sustaining damage by the winds. The inhabitants of this sanctuary enjoy delightful prospects of the vast ocean, and the varied scenery of mountains of a diversity of elevation and aspect, with valleys of different width and profundity.

In the skirts of this mount, at the entrance of the bay, is Villa Velha, (Old Town,) originally the town of Espirito Santo, and for some time capital of the capitania, which, however, never became considerable, and is now of little consequence. Our Lady of Rozario is the patroness of the church, whose parishioners are fishermen. Fish are abundant and cheap upon all this part of the coast.

Benevente is at present a small town; but it unquestionably enjoys an advantageous situation for becoming more considerable, at the mouth of the river which takes its name, having a commodious anchorage place, and great fertility of surrounding soil. The inhabitants are mostly Indians, for whose reception it first began. The Jesuits, its founders, had a hospicio, or entertaining house here, which is now divided into three portions; one is the residence of the vicar, another is appropriated to the municipal house, and the third for the use of the ouvidor. The church is dedicated to Our Lady of Assumpçao. In the adjacencies of the river, cotton, sugar, rice, Indian corn, &c. are cultivated. The canoes which convey those productions to the port can advance up the river with the tide for a considerable distance.

Guarapary is a villota, or small place, situated near the embouchure of the river Guarapary, upon a small bay. The church is dedicated to Nossa Senhora da Conceiçao. Its inhabitants, principally Indians, cultivate cotton and the necessaries of life. Here is collected the greatest portion of the Peruvian balsam, which takes the name of the province.

Almeyda, situated on elevated ground, near the embouchure of the Reys Magos, from whence a great extent of ocean is discovered, was founded by the Jesuits, who had a hospicio here, whither they repaired from the college of the capital to learn the Tupininquin language. This edifice has been for a long time the residence of the vicars, and its handsome chapel, dedicated to Reys Magos, has always served for the mother church. It has a considerable piece of ground attached to it, in the form of a square. In no other parish of the bishopric have the number of native Indians increased so much as here; with them are intermixed some whites and mesticos. The whole pursue fishing, and are farmers of the first necessaries. They export some earthenware and timber.

Five miles to the north of Almeyda is the Aldeia Velha, (the Old Aldeia,) inhabited by Christianized Indians. It has commodious anchorage for sumacas at the mouth of a small river.

Further on there is another aldeia of Goytacaze Indians, also Christians. The whole cultivate the necessaries of life, practise fishing, and many pursue the manufacture of earthenware. Orange trees are remarkably abundant, and the fruit excellent. A considerable quantity of gamellas (wooden bowls) are exported.

Itapemirim stands on the southern margin, and two miles above the mouth of the river of the same name. It has a parish church of Our Lady of Amparo. A considerable augmentation of this place is anticipated. Its inhabitants drink the waters of the river, cultivate plantations of the sugar cane, and the cotton tree, rice, Indian corn, &c. and cut timber; all these are articles of exportation.

On the margin of the river Piuma there is an aldeia of the same name, whose inhabitants cultivate the necessaries of life peculiar to the country, and cut much timber from the neighbouring woods. Vessels of a small size can be constructed here.

On the margin of the river Doce, two miles below the mouth of the Mandu, there is a prezidio, with the name of Souza, in order to impede the smuggling of gold from Minas Geraes, and which may become in time a considerable povoaçao. The surrounding territory is highly fertile. One quart of the seed of feijao will generally produce ninety Winchester bushels; and lower down, upon an island in the same river, the same quantity of seed has rendered one hundred and fifteen Winchester bushels, which is nearly four hundred for one. A quart of Indian corn commonly produces one hundred and fifteen bushels. A shrub grows here, the bruised leaves of which afford a liquor by infusion, which will dye a fast purple colour.

Near the river Jecu, at a great distance above its mouth, in a fertile district, is beginning to flourish the arraial of the same name, inhabited by white agriculturists, and abounding with game.

In the latitude of 20°, and upwards of five hundred miles distant from the coast of this province, is the small and rocky island of Ascension, also called Trinidade. It has good water; but having no good anchorage place, and little of its surface being susceptible of cultivation, it is uninhabited.

CHAP. XIV.

PROVINCE OF PORTO SEGURO.

_Boundaries--Prosperity of its first Donatory--Reversion
to the Crown in a bad State--Present partial Cultivation--
Indians--Mountains--Mineralogy--Zoology--Phytology--Rivers,
Lakes, and Ports--Povoações--Abrolhos._

This province, which comprises the territory of the capitania of the same name, with one portion of that of Ilheos, and another of that of Espirito Santo, is confined on the north by the province of Bahia, from which it is separated by the river Belmonte, on the west by Minas Geraes, on the south by Espirito Santo, and on the east by the ocean. It lies between 15° 54′ and 19° 31′ of south latitude, and in consequence of its being like the province of Espirito Santo imperfectly explored, and from the same cause, of being in great part under the dominion of the Indians, its width cannot be precisely determined. A different result might have justly been expected, as it is without contradiction that part of the new world where the Portuguese were first established. It has already been shown that Cabral left here two degradados in the year 1500, and Christovam Jaques a large number of other individuals, with two Franciscan missionaries in the year 1504. The excellent quality of the Brazil wood, which the first explorers found in abundance, soon rendered it an object of public contract, and the good understanding which the colony maintained] with the Indians, also contributed to its being regularly and annually visited for the purpose of so important a traffic.

When John III. partitioned this region into capitanias, the colony of Porto Seguro had begun to flourish, and many ships destined for India refreshed in its port. The three Indians, which George Lopez Bixorda presented to King Emanuel in 1513, were Tupininquins, the allies and friends of the colonists of Porto Seguro, and the interpreter who accompanied them was one of the degradados left there by Cabral in 1500. This Bixorda had the contract for Brazil wood, and in order to show the king a sample of his new subjects, the three Indians were conveyed to Portugal in the ship laden with this precious wood, without any change of their rude and native dress, the peculiarity of which consisted in their bodies being dressed or ornamented with feathers, and their lips, noses, and ears distorted with immense pendants; their usual weapons of defence, the bow and arrow, added to the interest which their appearance excited.

The name of Porto Seguro, (Secure Port,) given to the bay where the discovering armada anchored, also soon became common to the anchorage place of the river Buranhen, with the establishment of the colony which C. Jaques planted upon its margin, in the place where the principal or high part of the capital is now situated. It soon after became the factory also for the Brazil wood.

Pedro do Campo Tourinho, its first donatory, after having sold all he possessed, for the purpose of transporting himself, his wife, Ignez Fernandes Pinta, one son, called Fernam do Campo Tourinho, and various families who agreed to accompany him, arrived safe in the port of the factory. Not one of the other donatories experienced so prosperous a disembarkation. His colony was a considerable augmentation of that of C. Jaques, or the factory, where he found many countrymen, some of whom had been more than thirty years in the country, with their half Indian progeny, called _Mamalucos_, living in full harmony with the aborigines.

In a few years he found himself in a considerable and flourishing town. Besides the town of Santa Cruz he founded that of St. Amaro, and other aldeias, with which the establishment was greatly increased, and before his death had acquired a very flourishing state.

The town of St. Amaro, any vestige of which can scarcely at present be discovered, near the morro crowned with a hermitage of Our Lady d’Ajuda, three miles to the south of Porto Seguro, was demolished by the ferocious _Abatyra_ Indians in the year 1564.

The town of St. Cruz, which was commenced upon Cabralia Bay, (Bay of Cabral,) was removed by its inhabitants near to the river Joao de Tyba, in consequence of its more favourable soil.

_On Stone by C. Shoosmith from a Sketch by Ja^s. Henderson._
_Printed by C. Hullmandel._

BOTOCUDO INDIANS, ABOUT TO CROSS A RIVER.]

The first donatory was succeeded by his said son, who did not live to enjoy it long. To Fernam do Campo Tourinho succeeded his sister, Leonor do Campo Tourinho, widow of Gregorio de Pesqueira, to whom the king confirmed the capitania by letter of the 30th of May, 1556. Two months afterwards she sold it, by permission of the Sovereign, to the Duke d’Aveiro, Don John de Lancastre, to whom the King, in the same law, granted licence, at his death, to nominate his son, Don Pedro Deniz de Lancastre, from whose successors it reverted to the crown in the reign of Joseph I. in a very bad state and with only two towns. One hundred milreas (about £25) _de juro_, or right, six hundred milreas (about £150) in money, and two moyos (about seventy Winchester bushels each) of wheat every year as long as the vendor lived, was the price stipulated in the writings of the sale. The Jesuits, who founded a house in the capital in 1553, with the intention of better reducing the Indians to Catholicism, only left two aldeias entirely Indian, of which they were the curates. Amongst the most able of those in the course of two hundred and five years, who became curates in these missions, many went there to be catechised previous to studying theology at the college of Bahia, in order to learn more perfectly the idiom of the Indians, who were not taught the Portuguese language, as they only treated or had intercourse with the curates, who were well acquainted with their language.

The Abatyra Indians, at the period before alluded to, destroyed, amongst other places, the towns of Juassema and St. Andre, founded by the duke. These Indians, now unknown, are said to be a horde of the Aimores, or perhaps this was the name by which the Tupininquins designated them in general. The Aimores are believed to have been a tribe of northern Tapuyas, who, in ancient times, in consequence of the wars, proceeded southward, and retired to the west of the serra which afterwards took their name. The neighbouring nations called them Aimbores, and the Portuguese, from corruption, Aimores; but, for a considerable time, they have had no other name amongst the Christians than Botocudos, in consequence of their custom of perforating the ears and lips. They always wander about, divided into parties of forty to sixty families, destroying game, and gathering wild fruits, their ordinary aliment. Some paint the body, at times, a green colour, at others yellow; and in order to free themselves from the attacks of the mosquito, at certain seasons, or in places where they most incommode them, they varnish the skin with the juice or milk of certain trees. Their arms are the bow and the arrow barbed on both sides. They have no other conveyance by water, but jangadas, or catamarans, rudely formed of the trunks of the jangada tree, and put together with very little care, with which they cross large rivers. Their combats, like those of all other Indians, are from ambuscades, and they commonly make the assault after dark, and only when they judge that they are taking their enemy by surprise. Some tribes, when they have determined to engage the foe, leave the aged, the women, and children, in some secure place in the centre of their district. Their barbarity has always produced the idea that they are much more numerous than they are really found to be. The garrisons newly established upon the eastern line of the province of Minas Geraes, and those in the centre of this, have obliged many to sue for that peace which had been so frequently offered them, and which they always rejected, secure in extensive woods, where there are few, if any, Christian colonists to subdue their wild habits, or mitigate their savage propensities.

Of all the provinces of the Brazil, this may be said to be the most backward in cultivation, and in the civilization of the aboriginal inhabitants. It is almost one wood of fine timber, and different species of trees, indicating, beyond a question, the great fertility generally of its soil. The want of good ports capable of receiving large ships is assigned as the cause of its present condition; but want of industry, and the requisite energy and spirit of improvement, as well as the deficiency, it must be allowed, of population, are the real causes. The Christianized population only possess the parts adjacent to the ocean, and few days pass in certain months of the year, that its coasts are not visited by the Indians in search of the eggs of the tortoise. From these people the _Canarins_ are known, who are the nearest hordes to the towns of Caravellas, and Villaviçoza. It is said that they have an establishment of one vast house in the centre of the country, hid in a valley between two mountains. The _Machacaris_ are masters of a country washed by the rivers Norte and Sul. In the western part are known the _Cumanacho_, _Mono_, _Frecha_, _Catathoy_, _Aimore_, and the _Patacho_ nations; the last are more numerous than all the others together, and extend themselves, divided into tribes, from one extremity of the province to the other.

The Aimores are anthropophagi, and the dread of all the other nations except the Patachos.

From the river Doce, the southern limit of this province, as far as a league to the north of the Jucurucu, the lands are so flat, that they scarcely exceed the level of the highest tides. In the whole of this tract, (more than one hundred miles,) not one mountain, or even small elevation is seen. From this point nearly to the Buranhen, the shore is of a green or white colour, and of four to six yards in height; the remainder of the coast to the river Belmonte is in parts flat, in others rather more elevated. Fine woods are everywhere seen extending to the margin of the ocean.

MOUNTAINS.--Those in the central and western parts are unknown. At the northern extremity of the eastern side only is discovered the serra of Aimores, the highest portion of which, denominated the Mount of John de Siam, and the outer portion Mount Pascoal, is seen for many leagues at sea, being the principal land-mark in this latitude.

MINERALOGY.--Gold, iron, granite, calcareous stone, white potters’ earth, with other argils, amethysts, topazes, and other precious stones.

ZOOLOGY.--Domestic animals are in all parts very rare, if we except the environs of the capital. In the woods are the deer, boar, _tamandua_, monkey, _anta_, with various other species of this region, generally very numerous. Ounces are here in the greatest number, and commit their depredations upon the sea-coast from April to August, in consequence, it is thought, of the cold, which makes them desert the western lands, and seek the vicinity of the sea, where it is warmer. Hunters find with much facility the _mutun_, _juru_, _macuco_ partridge, _jacu_, _jacutinga_, _aracuan_, _nhamba_, _capueira_, parrot, and a diversity of the turtle bird. The _araponga_, _bicudo_, and _sabio_ are well known. The _pavo_, or peacock, is little larger than the _tucano_, black, with the breast yellow and red. The _crijoha_ is something larger than the blackbird, and its change of colours beautiful. The bees produce honey in the trunks of trees, supplying aliment to a great many.

PHYTOLOGY.--Amongst many other trees of good timber are the _vinathico_, _aderno_, _avariba_, _anhuhyba_, _aricurana_, _anhahyba de rego_, _angelim_, of different colours; also the _biriba_, _buranhen_, _camacary_, _caixeta_, cedar, cherry, _conduru_, _grapiapunha_, _guanandirana_, _hoyticica_, _jatahy_; of the _jacaranda_, are the sorts called _cabuina_, mulatto and white; of the _jucirana_, white and green; the _jiquitiba_, _inhuhybatan_, and the clove; _ipe_, black and other sorts; _piqui_, black, yellow, otherwise _mirindiba_; the _potumuju_, bow wood, oil wood, Brazil wood, _oanandy_, _sapucaya_, _sobro_, _sucupiracu_, _sucupira acary_, _tatagiba_, white and green _timbuhyba_; the _jabuticaba_, the _aracaza_, the _pindahyba_, and various palm trees are well known; the Asiatic cocoa-nut tree is not very frequent. There is a tree, the leaves of which, when broken, exhale the aromatic smell of the clove. The tree which produces the _pechurim_, here improperly called mulberry tree, is rare, and its fruit not so fine as that of Para. The soil is good for the culture of mandioca, the most valuable produce of the country; Indian corn, rice, and legumes grow in some districts. Cotton trees prosper best in the vicinity of the sea, at least in many situations.

RIVERS, LAKES, AND PORTS.--The river Doce has its heads in the centre of Minas Geraes, and, flowing through part of that province, leaves it, already accumulated by its tributary streams into a considerable river, under the name by which it is here known. After it begins to divide this province from that of Espirito Santo, it is precipitated in the space of one league over three falls, denominated the Escadinhas. From hence to the ocean it is large, serpentine, and handsome, and has many flat islands. Its waters are muddy in the summer season, in consequence of the minerals of Minas Geraes with which it is impregnated; and this appearance is partly caused, it may be inferred, by the auriferous bed through which there cannot be a doubt, from what has been already observed, the latter part of its course is impelled. Its waters are discharged between two points of flat sand of considerable extent; and this aqueous volume preserves its freshness for a considerable distance into the ocean, from which circumstance its primitive name was changed to that of Doce (Soft, or Fresh.)

The St. Mattheus, originally the Cricare, has its source in Minas Geraes. Soon after entering this province, it runs for the space of many miles with great violence, occasioned by the impulse it acquires in descending various falls. A little below this current, which is supposed to be in the meridian of the Escadinhas, it receives by the left the large river Cotache, which traverses extensive woods, inhabited by Indians and wild beasts. It irrigates one of the most fertile countries of the state, and discharges itself into the sea thirty-five miles north of the Doce. A little above its embouchure it receives by the northern margin the St. Anna, which is navigable with the tide.

The Mucury, which is considerable as far as the tide advances, originates in Minas Geraes, and with a rapid current enters the sea near thirty miles to the north of the St. Mattheus. In the vicinity of the ocean it traverses a most fertile district, covered with fine woods, occupied by wild quadrupeds, beyond which it passes through lands rich in gold and precious stones. This river communicates with the Peruhype.

The Peruhype, whose mouth is fifteen miles north of the Mucury, originates in the centre of the province, and is apparently considerable, with a tide running many leagues up.

Ten miles north of the preceding is the mouth of the channel called the river Caravellas, but which is only an arm that the sea extends ten miles to the west, of considerable width, very deep, and beautifully bordered with mangroves. The entrance is only accessible to small vessels. About the middle of its extent, there is a spacious channel of great depth communicating with the Peruhype.

The Itanhem, after a long course, enters the sea fifteen miles north of Caravellas, and affords navigation for canoes for a considerable distance.

The Jucurucu, which discharges itself fifteen miles north of the Itanhem, takes its name at the confluence of the afore-mentioned river Do Sul, (South) with the Do Norte, (North) which unite about twenty miles from the sea, and afford navigation to canoes for a considerable space into the interior of the country. Sumacas advance up this river as far as the said confluence.

Thirty miles to the north of the Jucurucu is the point Corumbau, by corruption Corumbabo; three miles further the mouth of the river Cramimuan, at the bottom of a large bay; and a little further the small river Juassema, near whose mouth is yet seen the vestiges of the town so called.

Eight miles north of the Cramimuan is the river Do Frade, (Friar,) which took its name from the shipwreck of a religious Franciscan. Its course is through woods, and it is only capable of receiving canoes.

The Buranhen, for a long period here designated only the Cachoeira, in consequence of a fall, (_cachoeira_,) which it passed about the centre of the province, enters the sea eighteen miles north of the Frade: its origin is unknown; but not being considerable, it may be inferred that its course is not extensive; that portion of it explored flows from the south-west to the north-east, with many windings. It affords various sorts of fish, such as are called here _piaus_, _trahiras_, _robalos_, _acaris_, _piabanhas_, _piabas_, _jundias_, _pitus_, and very large _prones_ in abundance.

It is followed, at a distance of about eighteen miles by the St. Cruz, something smaller, and navigable by canoes. It took this name after the inhabitants of the town of St. Cruz removed to its margin, then called the Joam de Tyba. They formed the first colony in its vicinity. It is stored with the same fish as the preceding one.

The St. Antonio, the waters of which are muddy, with an inconsiderable course, is a few leagues north of the preceding.

The lake Juparana, deep, abounding with fish, interspersed with small islands, and about fifteen miles in circuit, bordered with fine woods, growing upon an uneven and fertile country, is twenty miles from the sea, has an outlet into the river Doce by a narrow and deep channel five miles in length, and receives a river called Cachoeira, which is said to be navigable.

Between the mouth of the Doce and the St. Mattheus is the lake Tapada, of considerable length from east to west but very narrow.

The lake of Medo, (Fear,) very small, is in the proximity of the origin of St. Antonio and communicates with the Belmonte.

The lake Braco, long and narrow, prolongs itself with the coast, between the Belmonte and the Mugiquissaba, which is small, and enters the ocean about eighteen miles south of the first.

The Belmonte, so called after the town of the same name was founded near its mouth, is formed in Serro do Frio, one of the comarcas of Minas Geraes, by the waters of the Jiquitinhonha and Arassuahy. When it traverses the cordillera of Aimores it is contracted between two mountains of unequal elevation; the northern one, called St. Bruno, is the highest, and on a sudden descends from a height of more than forty yards into a whirlpool, whose evaporation exhibits an eternal cloud, and the loud murmuring of its falling waters is heard sometimes twelve and fifteen miles off. Continuing for the space of fifteen miles to the east between rugged margins to a _cachocirinha_, (a little fall,) it flows through a flat and woody country to the sea, describing various windings, with a current rapid and wide but of little depth. Its fish called _tubarõe_ is of an enormous size, and the _cacoe_ is the smallest of its finny inhabitants. It has many flat islands within its margins, and does not receive any considerable stream after it descends the fall.

The Piauhy, which unites the Belmonte below this fall, is the most abundant amongst those which it receives, after commencing to serve as a limit to this province.

Cabralia Bay, (where the armada of Cabral anchored,) fifteen miles to the north of Porto Seguro, and four to the south of St. Cruz, is the only port of the province where large vessels can enter.

The bay of Concha, near the Mugiquissaba, is a roadstead which might be rendered capable of receiving vessels of large burden.

The towns of this province are--

Porto Seguro
Villaverde
Trancozo
Prado
Alcobaca
Caravellas
Villaviçoza
Portalegre
St. Mattheus
Belmonte.

Porto Seguro, a considerable town, and capital of the province, is situated at the mouth of the river Buranhen, upon an elevation on the northern side, with an agreeable aspect, enjoying salubrious air, and provided with good water. It has a church of Nossa Senhora da Penna, a house of misericordia, and an ex-Jesuitical hospicio, at present the residence of the ouvidors. The houses are of brick or wood, and the streets unpaved. The main part of its inhabitants frequent the fishing of _garoupas_, which form an important branch of their commerce. It has, as is usual, a royal professor of Latin. Its surrounding lands are appropriated to divers productions, none of which are superabundant except fruits. Porto Seguro, it is said, was once larger, but upon the occasion previously referred to was nearly dismantled by the Abatyras, and being rebuilt, again suffered much from the invasions of the _Guerens_, who, perhaps, would have annihilated it altogether if the celebrated Tateno, a cacique or chief from the river St. Antonio, who was a scourge to the other savages and a friend of the Christians, had not succoured them, in spite of the diseases under which he laboured at the time, and which did not permit him to move, except in a net or rede, carried upon the shoulders of his most robust comrades. The small povoaçoes of Pontinha, Marcos, and Pacatta, the whole upon the northern margin of the river, scarcely separated by small intervals, are so many other parts of this town.

Villaverde, originally Patatiba, is small but well situated, has a church dedicated to Espirito Santo, (Holy Spirit,) and a municipal house. It is eighteen miles above the capital, upon the southern margin of the same river, near a large lake. It has a profusion of fruits, and abundance of water from fountains. The soil is of great fertility, but is entirely left to the indolence of the Christianized Indians, amongst whom a white is scarcely seen. They export some timber and a little cotton.

Eighteen miles north of the capital, near the mouth of the St. Cruz, the parish of this name, formerly considerable, has decayed, in consequence of the invasions of the Guerens. It has a church, dedicated to Nossa Senhora of Conceiçao; and in the vicinity a tree is common, the fruit of which is called the quince. The proximity of Cabralia Bay, and the roads which are expected to be opened from divers points of Minas Geraes, will probably render this povoaçao a flourishing and considerable place.

Trancozo is an inconsiderable town, well situated, near the mouth of a small river; the church is dedicated to St. John Baptista, and its inhabitants, almost generally Indians, cultivate cotton and mandioca, and are also fishermen. It is fifteen miles south of Porto Seguro.

Prado, situated at the mouth of the Jucurucu, which was its primitive name, is forty miles to the south of Trancozo. A considerable quantity of farinha (flour of mandioca) is exported from hence, at present the only riches of its inhabitants. Its church is dedicated to the Purificaçao de Nossa Senhora.

Alcobaça, another small town, near the mouth of the Itanhen, of which it originally had the name, has a church dedicated to St. Bernardo. The population, generally Indian, and the agriculture, begin to increase, by the establishments of various farmers, who removed hither from Caravellas, in consequence of the woods or mattas remaining uncut in the immediate vicinity of the town.

Caravellas is a considerable town, upon the northern margin of the river of the same name, about five miles from the sea, and almost in front of the channel which communicates with the Peruhype. It consists of three streets parallel with the river, which forms a good port, capable even of receiving large vessels, if the bar were accessible. It is the most frequented of any other town in the province; has a church called St. Antonio, and royal masters of the primitive letters and Latin. Almost all its inhabitants cultivate mandioca, which is nearly three years in the ground before it reaches maturity; they can scarcely make two plantations of it, as already in the second the ants have accumulated upon it to a destructive extent. The lands overgrow with brushwood immediately the woods are cleared away. The water-melons, _aboboras_, bananas, and oranges, are very fine. There are places covered entirely with the _jabuticaba_ tree. A great quantity of farinha is exported from hence. Various families, who escaped from the catastrophe which attended the destruction of the towns in the vicinity of the capital by the Indians, commenced this town, upon the right bank of the river, near the bar, from whence it was shortly afterwards removed to the situation which it now occupies. They are now labouring in the opening of a road or track, to communicate with that of Portalegre, which leads to Minas Geraes.

Villaviçoza, at first called Campinho, upon the southern margin, and four miles above the mouth of the river Peruhype, is yet small, with a church of N. Senhora da Conceiçao. Its inhabitants produce much farinha, and the vessels by which the superfluity is exported navigate commonly by the river Caravellas, and the channel before mentioned, in consequence of the little depth which the Peruhype has at the bar.

Portalegre, at the mouth of the river Mucury, of which it originally had the name, is a small town, without any thing remarkable; but the extensive navigation of the river and the fertility of its surrounding lands promise it future augmentation. Its church is dedicated to St. Joze; and its inhabitants, besides other necessaries, produce and export a considerable quantity of farinha, with some flax of ticum, and timber. In its district there are minerals of iron. From this town, a road runs to Villa do Principe in Minas Geraes.

The town of St. Mattheus, without regularity, upon gently elevated ground, on the right margin, and fifteen miles above the bar of the river so called, does not yet exceed mediocrity, but is well supplied with fish and good water. Many circumstances, however, concur to warrant the expectation of its becoming flourishing, when the Indians are reduced. Its inhabitants hitherto respire air infected by the neighbouring swamps, which occasionally produce fevers, terminating sometimes in death. They cultivate feijao, rice, Indian corn, cotton, the sugar cane, and above all mandioca, the farinha of which is exported to a great extent. Many other branches of agriculture would flourish in this district, the fertility of which is perhaps unequalled, and not materially infested with ants. The water-melon is here excellent, and oranges and lemons are abundant.

Belmonte is a town situated in the angle of the mouth of the river, which took its name, and which injures it occasionally, at the period of the greatest floods. It was first an aldeia of Christian Indians, and consists of three streets, in a line, with houses generally of earth. The church is called Our Lady of Carmo, and the people are of all complexions.

On the margin of the river Doce, near the outlet of the lake Juparana, is the increasing aldeia of Linhares, to which a vicar was appointed in 1815, in consequence of its inhabitants becoming numerous. With the view of impeding the invasions of the savages, as well as commencing new povoaçoes, were recently established the detachments of Arcos, near the margin of the river Belmonte, above the great fall; Aveiro, upon the river St. Cruz; Aquiar, in the district of Villaverde; Linhares, on the river Frade; Cunha, on the Cramimuan; Vimieyro, on the Jucurucu; Obidos, in the district of Alcobaca; Caparica, upon the river Peruhype; Araujo, upon the Mucury; Itahunas, upon the Guaxindiba, which discharges itself four miles north of the St. Mattheus; and Galveas, above the town of St. Mattheus, upon the margin of the river of that name. All the parochials of this province are in the jurisdiction of the bishopric of Rio de Janeiro.